THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary-May 29, 2017- Topic 1
New
cattle trade rules: All animals are equal
The
Centre’s move to notify new rules to regulate livestock markets under the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 (PCA) is either extremely poorly
thought out or much too clever for its own good. In a way, both. On the
surface, the notification, which spans eight pages, reads like a general
document on the regulation of the sale of all kinds of livestock bought and
sold in animal markets, with some welcome prohibitions on the cruelty inflicted
in the transport and treatment of animals.
But parse the rules, and it is
evident that cattle — a category that includes cows, buffaloes, bulls and
camels — come under a slew of special restrictions which, when effected, could
have an extremely serious impact on the meat and livestock industry, not to
mention the livelihoods and dietary choices of millions of people.
Surprisingly, only the purchase or sale of cattle for slaughter in animal
markets has been prohibited. This raises suspicions that the Centre has
attempted to conceal, or at least soften perceptions about, an extremely
controversial provision, in the guise of passing a seemingly inoffensive, even
enlightened, body of rules relating to animal cruelty. The rules framed for the
sale of cattle are so cumbersome — for instance, buyers must verify they are
agriculturists, and sellers must furnish photo identity proof and written
declarations stating that the cattle are not brought to the animal market for
slaughter — that one wonders whether the objective is to surreptitiously
throttle the entire cattle trade in an elaborate ream of red tape. Is the ban
on the sale of cattle for slaughter in animal markets intended to act
indirectly as an absolute ban? Is the notification, stripped of its
generalities and niceties, really about the BJP government’s pet concern, cows?
Such
questions are bound to be raised given the way the rules were notified. If the
main subject of the notification was the regulation of livestock markets, why
was it issued by the Ministry of Environment and not the Animal Husbandry
Department of the Ministry of Agriculture, which deals directly with this
issue? Moreover, on what ground can the slaughter of any animal for food be
prevented under the PCA, when it explicitly recognises that animals may
constitute “food for mankind”? What the Act prohibits is only the “infliction
of unnecessary pain and suffering” when animals are consumed as food. Such
legal infirmities are bound to be challenged in court, but meanwhile the
economic costs of this decision will merit a close watch. If estimates that 90%
of slaughtered buffaloes are bought and sold in animal markets are correct,
then the trade will be crippled. The Centre must address the concerns of the trade as well as
of those who suspect the notification is a part of a Machiavellian plot to
influence and curb food choices. While there is a case to retain most of the
rules prohibiting the cruel treatment of animals, the ban on the sale of cattle
for slaughter in animal markets must go.
Vocabulary
Cruelty: callous
indifference to or pleasure in causing pain and suffering.
Example: He has
treated her with extreme cruelty
Synonyms: brutality, savagery, inhumanity, barbarity, barbarousness
Inflict: cause
something unpleasant or painful to be suffered by someone or something.
Example: They
inflicted serious injuries on three other men
Synonyms: administer to, deliver to, deal
out to, dispense to
Parse: an act of
or the result obtained by parsing a string or a text.
Example: There were
people who knew there were problems with the parse
Dietary: of or
relating to diets or dieting.
Example: Dietary
advice for healthy skin and hair
Conceal: keep from
sight.
Example: A line of
sand dunes concealed the distant sea
Synonyms: hide, screen, cover, obscure, block
out, blot ou
Perception: the
ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through the senses.
Example: The normal
limits to human perception
Guise: an
external form, appearance, or manner of presentation, typically concealing the
true nature of something.
Example: He visited
in the guise of an inspector
Synonyms: likeness, outward
appearance, appearance, semblance, form
Slaughter: kill
animals for food.
Example: When I say
meat, I do mean slaughtered animals killed for food.
Synonyms: kill, butcher
Ream: widen a
bore or hole with a special tool.
Example: Wilson
drills and reams a hole that will form the beginning of the bolt channel.
Throttle: attack or
kill someone by choking or strangling them.
Example: She was
sorely tempted to throttle him
Synonyms: choke, strangle, strangulate, garrote, gag; suppress, inhibit
Crippled: cause
someone to become unable to move or walk properly.
Example: A
crippling disease
Synonyms: disabled, paralyzed, incapacitated, physically
handicapped
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